Reviews by Smita (38)

This is a hard hitting film. Moves a little slowly at times, but the end leaves one flabbergasted by its sheer truth. Worth seeing at least once. It could have ended with the trial being over, but as it says, "there is a little bit left". And that little bit socks you in the stomach.

What a lovely, lovely film! Not a comedy, as stated, but apparently factual. Many of us have, no doubt, heard of the Dadasaheb Phalke film award, but how many of us know who Dadasaheb Phalke really was? How many of us are aware of the fact that the first Indian film and the seed of Bollywood was "Raja Harishchandra"? Despite the fact that the film is in Marathi, the subtitles are adequate to narrate the whole story to us. Excellent acting by Nandu Madhav as Phalke and Paresh Mokashi's sensitive direction make for a wonderful film.

We call this massager The Cobra because of its shape. And let me tell you, this is a wonderful machine. Use it at different intensities with different heads and it gives a wonderful, deep massage. Very happy with this product.

Together with "Samsara" and "7 Years in Tibet", this film makes a good trilogy on Tibet and the Buddhist way of life there. Based on the life of the current Dalai Lama, the film incorporates history along with biography. Definitely a film worth seeing.

What a strange film! Starts off blandly enough with a sweet boy-girl romance and then, the twist in the tail of the tale!

Sometimes one doesn't know where the film is going and one gets bored, but when it starts to unwind, it is unstoppable. Kukunoor seems to have a penchant for schooldays. Starting with Rockford and continuing here, the story revolves around an unfinished school romance and the crux of the matter lies in the schooldays of the three protagonists.

Well worth a watch. I put it away after the first half hour and then went back to watching it some days later and watched it uninterrupted till the end.

A very interesting book taking into the account of Rama, the many many Ramayanas existant in Asia. The juxtaposition of the narrations of Ravana and Bhadra make for an interesting tell on different views to a common occurrence. However, unfortunately, the editing and proof reading of the book lower the standard of the novel immensely.

An absolutely mindblowing film. Admitedly, not everyone's cup of teac, but a brilliant film, nonetheless. Rituparno Ghosh has got amazing performances from all his actors : Jackie Shroff, Abhishekh Bacchan, Raima Sen and Soha Ali Khan. Set in 1800s Bengal, the story presents the seamier side of Brahmanical insiduousness and presents it to us in an understated but nonetheless terrifying manner. Definitely a film for the serious cineaste.

I wonder how often we stop to think about how the necessities of life carry on. We know that death is a part of life and for Hindus, cremation of a dead body is essential. But how often do we think of the lives of the people who cremate these bodies for us? What are their lives? What do they think? How do they do what they do? And some of them are children! Starting from 5 years of age, the grow old and die in the burning ghats.

Rajesh S Jala's documentary, Children of the Pyre, is definitely worth a watch. A bit long, well conceived, the children speak for themselves. And leave you wondering...

The idea of showing us a glimpse of the hard lives of people in Ladakh and other upper, almost inaccesible, areas of India is commendable. Unfortunately, the director has not edited the picture well. He has dwelt, quite unnecessarily, for long moments on portions which are not essential to either the tale or the telling. The acting is good, the story is good. It is the editing that let's the movie down.